Indian dining is all about delectable appetizers, lip-smacking main courses, mouth-watering side dishes, and awesome desserts. Talking about appetizers, soups are an integral part of a casual and formal meals bringing in massive benefits for health.
Soups set the tone for a fine meal ahead of the main course dishes. There are many types of Indian soup dishes that can take food lovers on a unique gastronomic experience. Here are a few of them.
Lemon Coriander Soup
If you are looking for a refreshing change in your usual soup recipes, lemon coriander soup is second to none. It has a tangy taste with tinges of citrus flavor. Include it into your meal to liven up your mood!
You’ll only need a handful of ingredients such as fresh lemon juice, garlic, ginger, spring onion, gram flour, carrot, cabbage, black peppercorns, and salt to make it.
Heat oil in a pan and add onion, ginger, garlic, and spring onion bulb, gram flour, and sauté them. Next, add vegetable stock, coriander stock, cabbage, and carrot cubes and let them boil.
Keep separately the cooked veggies after straining and heat the broth. Add lemon juice, coriander leaves, and sliced coriander leaves.
Tomato Soup
Tomato soup is a classic healthy and creamy appetizer that has been popular since time immemorial. It’s easy to prepare this dish with chunks of chicken, cream, and vegetable stocks. However, tomatoes are the primary ingredient.
A bowl of fresh tomato soup is extremely nutritious. It is enriched with vitamins A and C, iron, and antioxidants that shield us from harmful free radicals.
The appetizer can be prepared by roasting onions, tomatoes, garlic, and herbs with salt. Blend the ingredients and pass through the strainer and boil it with herbs and spices.
Broccoli Soup
If your children do not like veggies, the best way to include them in the diet is through soups. Broccoli soup features among the most popular types of Indian soup.
To make this delectable soup you only have to puree and cook together broccoli, onions, celery, fresh herbs, and garlic to a creamy and smooth texture.
Bottle Gourd and Onion Soup
If you want to experiment with your soup recipe and are looking for something that’ll soothe your soul with its traditional flavor, then this is it. Bottle gourd and onion soup is mild and revitalizing that can spice up or add zing to any meal.
To prepare it, you’ll need bottle gourd, chopped onion, tomatoes chopped, olive oil, garlic, ginger, turmeric powder, lime juice, and black pepper.
Sauté all the veggies in a pan with oil, salt, and turmeric powder for 2 minutes and add 2 cups of water. Cook them in a pressure cooker for 3-4 whistles until the gourd becomes tender. Next, use a mixer grinder that’ll help you to get a smooth consistency and then season it with salt, pepper, and lemon juice.
Mixed Vegetable Clear Soup
Satiate your palate with mixed vegetable soup. With low calories and a host of nutritional benefits, it’s the ideal appetizer to opt for. From common cold to cough, constipation to obesity, it can deal with any health issue. The best thing about it is that it combines the goodness of cauliflowers, cabbages, tomatoes, and carrots.
Heat oil and add ginger, garlic, and green chilies in a deep non-stick pan. Sauté them on a medium flame for a few seconds. Add all the veggies and continue to sauté them. Next, add 3 cups of water, salt, and pepper on a medium flame and stir constantly. Serve hot.
Palak Shorba
Palak Shorba is a fresh and zesty delicacy that is made of loads of nutritious spinach. Hailing from Northern India, it can tickle your taste bud in the best possible way.
In this recipe, onions and turnips are sautéed over a medium flame. Cumin seeds, ghee, turnip, ginger, and onion are added in and stirred. The mixture is then sautéed until it turns golden. Moving further ahead, red chili, salt, and turmeric powder are added and sautéed. Then vegetable stock is added for half an hour on a low flame. At this point, spinach is added to the mixture and cooked for some more time. For a smooth consistency and texture, use a grinder and transfer the mixture to make a puree.
Which of the soups are you planning to make at home and serve your guests? Feel free to post your comments and feedback in the box given below.